Ahipa/Jicama It's All the Same

Jicama Root next to my newest book I got in the mail:)

I don't know if this counts as cheating (on my first taste test no less!) but I can't find the first item on my "Roots-to-Try" list, so I got another item on the list that is supposedly very similar. The Ahipa is grown in parts of Bolivia and Argentina, so it's kind of hard to get here in the U.S. I read on line, and talked to a Guatemalan produce guy at the local grocery store, and they both said that the Ahipa is almost identical to the more common Jicama root. In fact I had a hard time getting the produce man to understand why I didn't want to just substitute it. "They are the same thing." He said. So I guess for right now I will consider them one in the same. Should anyone happen to cross paths with an Ahipa maybe buy it, try it, and let me know what you think, or you can put a stamp on it and mail it to me! Anyway here is what I discovered:

Ahipa/Jicama:
They are not expensive, and they can be pretty big. The Jicama is more round whereas it's Ahipa cousin is longer and narrower looking (a little like a carrot). They are both whitish yellow. I purchased a small one thinking that I would try a little guy first to see if I liked it. When I got home and cut it open though, it was all rotten inside, and looked very similar to when a raw potato gets those icky brown spots. I was pretty disappointed. Not that it cost a lot, but more so because I took my time picking out my Jicama, and there was nothing on the outside of the root that indicated it was bad. The fiberous skin was fully intact, and there were no "soft spots" or anything.
Anyway, I read that they are mostly eaten raw, but can be used as a substitute for water chestnuts in Asian cooking. I decided to eat it raw. I found a little piece that wasn't brown and after peeling the outer skin, took a bite.
Texturally it's like eating a raw potato. It's kind of crunchy, but not as firm as a carrot. Maybe you could argue it's like an apple. At first it doesn't taste like anything. It's got quite a bit of water in it, but it doesn't taste starchy like a potato. Because it doesn't have a strong flavor it seems like most people could eat it and not dislike it. I had to take a couple bites before I tasted anything at all. Then it took a minute for me to figure out what it reminded me of. It's very subtle but it tastes just like eating raw green beans. If you took a bite of Jicama and didn't know that it was white, you would (by it's taste) probably think it was green because of that association.

Final Conclusion: It was OK. I definitely won't pick it out if I find some in a salad I am eating, but I don't think I will go out of my way to buy/eat it. I might give it a go next time I do a stir fry though. I was really disappointed in the fact that my root was rotten and I couldn't tell. And the fact that it was flavorless kind of makes me feel like I'd rather stick with celery as my flavorless crunchy veggie to have with dip. Jicama is good with ranch dressing, but so is just about every other vegetable. The big advantage it has is it's really unique texture. It would be interesting in a pasta salad maybe. In the end I give it one and a half out of 4 stars.

My Jicama was rotten....:(